Conglomerate (record label)

Last updated
Conglomerate
Founded
  • 1994 (as Flipmode)
  • 2010 (as Conglomerate)
Founder Busta Rhymes
Genre Hip hop
Country of origin United States
Location Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

Conglomerate is a record label founded by Busta Rhymes. The label was established in 1994 as Flipmode, the name Conglomerate was later adopted in 2010.

Contents

Company history

Elektra (1996–2000)

Soon after the Elektra deal was done, Busta obtained his own label which was to serve as an imprint to Elektra. At the time, his new artist Rah Digga signed to Elektra, along with her cousin Rampage. Elektra would allow Busta to sign these acts to his Flipmode Entertainment. Under the terms of the deal, Busta was responsible for putting their albums together and they would fund, promote and distribute the releases from the label. The first release from Flipmode was Busta Rhymes' The Coming , which came in 1996, during the time that the east coast was beginning to gain popularity again after the rise of the west coast. The album went platinum and catapulted him and the label into stardom, it also featured appearances from coming Flipmode members Spliff Star, Lord Have Mercy, and Rampage. Rampage would release his debut album in 1997, along with Busta Rhymes' second album. The crew was forming all the while Rampage, Rah Digga, Busta, Spliff Star, and Lord Have Mercy would soon be joined by Baby Sham, as well. The label soon released an album by Flipmode Squad, The Imperial in 1998. By 1999, the group and label were one of the most popular crews in hip hop, with Busta Rhymes as their central star and leader. Despite this, Busta was looking for a change as he was disappointed with the way that Elektra handled his last project and Rah Digga's debut, Dirty Harriet, which sold poorly, though the album would later become something of a cult classic. After the release of his album, Anarchy , Busta began looking for a way to move him and his squad to another label, but had only released four out of the five albums in his deal with Warner Bros. Records. So, in 2000, he released a compilation album and began to search for a new home. By then, member Lord Have Mercy would part ways with the crew, signaling the end of the height of Flipmode as a crew, as his album The Ungodly Hour never saw the light of day. Future changes would plague the group due to tense chemistry with Busta.

J (2001–2004)

After he moved the label away from Elektra, Busta had begun talking to Clive Davis, who had been recently ousted from Arista Records. He mentioned to Busta that he had recently created a new imprint at BMG, J Records. Clive told Busta that he had yet to sign anyone to the label and would be glad to distribute Busta and his Flipmode Entertainment. The deal was done by November 2000 and Busta Rhymes began work on his fifth album, Genesis . The album sold well, fueled by the P. Diddy-collaborated "Pass the Courvoisier." The single was a big hit during the year of 2002 and introduced Busta Rhymes into a younger generation of fans and totally revitalized his career. After the hype surrounding Genesis died down, Busta began working on an album for his Flipmode Squad, Rah Digga, and himself. The first to be released was It Ain't Safe No More , which featured Mariah Carey and the Flipmode Squad. Two singles from the album got a lot of airplay, but his new solo album stalled at gold, making it the worst-selling album in Busta Rhymes discography. To this Busta would blame on J Records not promoting his music properly, and consequently J records did not release Rah Digga's album nor did they release the Flipmode group album. In turn, Busta began associating himself with Dr. Dre and Eminem, as rumors began to circulate that Busta was moving his label yet again. These rumors proved to be false at the time. He would record some songs with Eminem and Dr. Dre, but would continue to stay at J Records. From 2002 to 2004, nothing was heard from Flipmode Entertainment as Busta Rhymes, the face of their label was doing more television than anything else. They resurfaced in 2005, when Busta Rhymes announced that he was planning to leave J Records and was recording his seventh album. Consequently, a new Flipmode album, though in the works, was shelved, and the roster continued to change.

Aftermath and Interscope (2006–2008)

In late 2005, Busta Rhymes had moved Flipmode once again, this time to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, a subsidiary of powerhouse label, Interscope Records. He celebrated the new distribution deal by cutting off his trademark dreadlocks and signing hip hop phenom, Papoose and Chauncey Black, formerly of Blackstreet. The deal came as no surprise to any hip hop fan as Dr. Dre had been producing for Busta since he had been signed to Elektra and he had begun to be featured on many Shady/Aftermath projects during the years 2003 and 2004. In February 2006, he released the second single, "I Love My Chick" from his seventh studio album The Big Bang . The album was released on June 13, 2006. It was a platinum success and returned the label back to the radio and back to hip hop prominence after a four-year absence. This success would be short-lived as the label's next release, Have You Seen by Rampage failed to certify on the charts. Soon after, the label would run into more bad luck. Papoose, who was signed to a joint-venture with Streetsweepers Entertainment, announced that he was leaving Flipmode just after signing a $1 Million dollar contract with the label. Furthermore, longtime Flipmode Entertainment act Rah Digga left the label expressing her full frustration to the fact of her new solo material never being released. On July 17, 2008, Busta Rhymes got dropped from Interscope/Aftermath, however. It was reported that Busta Rhymes was dropped from Interscope due to a heated argument with Jimmy Iovine. It was later revealed that following his alleged acrimonious departure from the Interscope/Aftermath label he signed a new deal with Universal Motown, who would be releasing his 8th studio album Back on My B.S. on May 19, 2009. [1] [2]

Universal Motown and Conglomerate (2008–2009)

Smith released his eighth studio album Back on My B.S. on May 19, 2009, via Universal Motown. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, selling 56,000 copies, and was his first album to not receive an RIAA certification, selling 122,000 copies to date. The singles that have been released from the album are, "Arab Money", "Hustler's Anthem '09" and "Respect My Conglomerate". The song "World Go Round", featuring British singer Estelle, was released in France on April 6, 2009, due to the heavy rotation of a leaked version. The single was released in the UK on July 13, 2009. All the while, the Flipmode roster continued to change, and Spliff Star dropped a number of street albums, with the collective recording mixtapes.

Busta Rhymes then founded The Conglomerate Entertainment in 2010 and the brand is no longer known as Flipmode.

Conglomerate (2010–present)

On November 16, 2011, it was announced that Busta Rhymes signed to Cash Money Records. For his debut single on the label and his The Conglomerate Entertainment, "Why Stop Now", he reunited with his "Look at Me Now"-collaborator Chris Brown.

The Conglomerate, as a collective effort, released their first official mixtape 'Catastrophic' at the end of 2012. On July 24, 2014, Reek da Villian revealed that he had departed from Conglomerate Records. [3]

Artists

Current acts

[4]

Former acts

Discography

ArtistAlbumDetails
Busta Rhymes The Coming
(released with Elektra)
Rampage Scout's Honor… by Way of Blood
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: July 29, 1997
  • Chart position: #65 U.S. [6]
  • RIAA certification: Gold
Busta Rhymes When Disaster Strikes...
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: September 23, 1997
  • Chart position: 3 U.S. [7]
  • RIAA certification: Platinum
Flipmode Squad The Imperial
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: September 1, 1998
  • Chart position: 15 U.S. [8]
  • RIAA certification: Gold
Busta Rhymes E.L.E.: The Final World Front
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: December 8, 1998
  • Chart position: 12 U.S. [9]
  • RIAA certification: Platinum
Rah Digga Dirty Harriet
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: November 2, 1999
  • Chart position: 18 U.S. [10]
  • RIAA certification: Gold
Busta Rhymes Anarchy
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: June 20, 2000
  • Chart position: 4 U.S. [11]
  • RIAA certification: Platinum
Busta Rhymes Total Devastation
(released with Elektra)
  • Released: October 2, 2001
  • Chart position: –
Busta Rhymes Genesis
(released with J)
  • Released: November 27, 2001
  • Chart position: 7 U.S. [12]
  • RIAA certification: Platinum
Busta Rhymes It Ain't Safe No More...
(released with J)
  • Released: November 26, 2002
  • Chart position: 43 U.S. [13]
  • RIAA certification: Gold
Rampage Have You Seen?
(released with Deep Freeze and Sure Shot)
  • Released: June 6, 2006
  • Chart position: –
Busta Rhymes The Big Bang
(released with Aftermath and Interscope)
  • Released: June 13, 2006
  • Chart position: 1 U.S. [14]
  • RIAA certification: Gold
Spliff StarContraband
(released with Paperrock)
  • Released: January 22, 2008
  • Chart position: –
Busta Rhymes Back on My B.S.
(released with Universal Motown)
  • Released: May 5, 2009
  • Chart position: 5 U.S.
Busta Rhymes Year of the Dragon
(released with Google Play)
  • Released: August 21, 2012
  • Chart position: –
ConglomerateCatastrophic
  • Released: December 21, 2012
  • Chart position: –
OT Genasis Rhythm & Bricks

(released with The Conglomerate Records)

  • Released: September 22, 2015
  • Chart Positions: -

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>The Coming</i> 1996 studio album by Busta Rhymes

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Anarchy is the fourth studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes, released on June 20, 2000 by Flipmode Records and Elektra Records. It comes after the release of The Coming, When Disaster Strikes and Extinction Level Event . Unlike these albums, Anarchy does not follow the apocalypse theme. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 164,000 copies. The album would later be certified Platinum by the RIAA. This was Busta's final album with Elektra Records.

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<i>Scouts Honor… by Way of Blood</i> 1997 studio album by Rampage

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<i>The Imperial</i> (Flipmode Squad album) 1998 studio album by Flipmode Squad

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References

  1. ↑ Exclusive: Busta Rhymes Signs with Universal Motown. Rap-up.com. Accessed September 17, 2008.
  2. ↑ Video: Busta Rhymes & Spliff Starr Doing The "Arab Money" Dance Live!. Worldstarhiphop.com (2008-10-06). Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
  3. ↑ "Reek Da Villian Signs A Deal With Birdman Only A Day After Busta Rhymes Leaves Cash Money - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  4. ↑ The history and biographies of Flipmode & Conglomerate Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine . Conglomeratefans.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
  5. ↑ Billboard, "The Coming" Billboard.com
  6. ↑ Billboard, "Scouts Honor... by Way of Blood" Billboard.com
  7. ↑ Billboard, "When Disaster Strikes..." Billboard.com
  8. ↑ Billboard, "The Imperial Album" Billboard.com
  9. ↑ Billboard, "Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)" Billboard.com
  10. ↑ Billboard, "Dirty Harriet" Billboard.com
  11. ↑ Billboard, "Anarchy" Billboard.com
  12. ↑ Billboard, "Genesis" Billboard.com
  13. ↑ Billboard, "It Ain't Safe No More" Billboard.com
  14. ↑ Billboard, "The Big Bang" Billboard.com
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